Original Art

[Mirosae]

Congratulations! Do you have others? It looks big...is this like a poster?

[StarryKat]

Hi Neo, yes it's an airbrushed painting. the artist and i corresponded over email and I visited his studio to pick up the piece when we had agreed on a price! It's large and looks lovely matted and framed. I love having the original as its one of my favourite book covers and the original has little pencil markings of details he chose not to paint in, like little metal details on the jacket cuff.

Rosa, this is the only one I have but it is worth having, I feel. Money and space are restricting factors for me. Here are a few more snapshots of the frame on my wall.

[erik1925]

That is truly gorgeous, StarryKat.

And a beautiful framing job, as well.

Congrats on the acquisition. 

[Neo]

That is truly gorgeous, StarryKat.

And a beautiful framing job, as well.

Congrats on the acquisition. 

+1

Very nice, Kat. 

[StarryKat]

thank you Neo and Erik, much appreciated!

[martinc]

I bought this recently:



The seller advertised it as being a painted film poster as sometimes used by cinemas in the 1920s as an alternative to studio produced paper. This could be true, I'm not sure, although I tend towards it being a piece of artwork used as a basis for a UK poster. It is 45 inches by 20 inches in size, consists of thick paper or card glued to a wooden board, with the main artwork painted in what looks to be oils (it has a surface sheen) and the titles in a flat, matte finish. It is quite elaborate if it was intended only to be used as a basis for a litho poster and then discarded but the artwork above Conrad Veidt's head has an unfinished look which made me think it wasn't used as an individual cinema poster in its own right. Of course, if there was a pressbook available this might help to solve the problem but paper on this film is incredibly scarce - I have only come across a French pressbook and two past auction records of an Austrian poster.

The artist is Alex Scruby:



This was not a name known to me and an internet search provided only a couple of links, the main one being to the British Film Institute site which give him a few credits for British films in the 1920s, one being for "art titles". They also have one image of a film poster from the 1920s for which he did the artwork but this does not appear to be available online (I think you may have to use their library facilities to access it).

I did subsequently find this on EMP:

http://www.emovieposter.com/agallery/archiveitem/11148569.html

I suppose that raises the additional possibility that it might have been artwork for a magazine but the proportions look more in line with the size of a poster rather than a magazine cover.

Has anybody ever come across this name before or seen anything else by him? Great name, Scruby, by the way - makes him sound like a character out of Dickens!

P.S. Hope the photo links work - this is the first time I have used Photobucket, so fingers crossed.

[paul waines]

Did you click on the IMG tag Martin?  They would normally show up if you did.

Excellent pieces by the way...

[brude]

Your Student of Prague art is really something special, Martin.
I've searched a bit and have found nothing.
Bruce has tons of pressbooks in his collection, many from the silent era.
Maybe he'll chime in with some info regarding Scorby, whose name he has seen in print.
 

[martinc]

Bruce has tons of pressbooks in his collection, many from the silent era.

I think you are right, he is probably the likeliest source for that, although I think I read somewhere that even he "only" has pressbooks for about 25% of films from that era.

Did you click on the IMG tag Martin?

Paul, I somehow managed not to follow your advice - I will try to muddle through a bit better next time.

[Neo]

The original art for Dead End Drive-In (1986). 



Gotta love the retro futuristic, neon 80s style.  It's on eBay: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dead-End-Drive-In-1986-Original-Artwork-Vhs-Video-Cover-Film-Poster-Horror-/142246643585?hash=item211e8f8781:g:ucAAAOSw-0xYe5qC

[erik1925]

I bought this recently:



The seller advertised it as being a painted film poster as sometimes used by cinemas in the 1920s as an alternative to studio produced paper. This could be true, I'm not sure, although I tend towards it being a piece of artwork used as a basis for a UK poster. It is 45 inches by 20 inches in size, consists of thick paper or card glued to a wooden board, with the main artwork painted in what looks to be oils (it has a surface sheen) and the titles in a flat, matte finish. It is quite elaborate if it was intended only to be used as a basis for a litho poster and then discarded but the artwork above Conrad Veidt's head has an unfinished look which made me think it wasn't used as an individual cinema poster in its own right. Of course, if there was a pressbook available this might help to solve the problem but paper on this film is incredibly scarce - I have only come across a French pressbook and two past auction records of an Austrian poster.

The artist is Alex Scruby:



This was not a name known to me and an internet search provided only a couple of links, the main one being to the British Film Institute site which give him a few credits for British films in the 1920s, one being for "art titles". They also have one image of a film poster from the 1920s for which he did the artwork but this does not appear to be available online (I think you may have to use their library facilities to access it).

I did subsequently find this on EMP:

http://www.emovieposter.com/agallery/archiveitem/11148569.html

I suppose that raises the additional possibility that it might have been artwork for a magazine but the proportions look more in line with the size of a poster rather than a magazine cover.

Has anybody ever come across this name before or seen anything else by him? Great name, Scruby, by the way - makes him sound like a character out of Dickens!

P.S. Hope the photo links work - this is the first time I have used Photobucket, so fingers crossed.

Nice find, Martin!!

And for a Conrad Veidt flicker, too.

[okiehawker]

Nice find, Martin!!

And for a Conrad Veidt flicker, too.

I agree with Jeff, this art is very nice.  Easily looks like a young Veidt to me.  Super find!  Hear this in a hypnotizing voice, "Sell it to me, sell it to me...."   Okie

[guest4955]

[okiehawker]

Wow, that price surprised me, Sundance!  It has a lot going for it being attributed to the great Howard Terpning; it's a pretty nice size; classic image; and, as a prelim it's quite finished.  However, I wouldn't have expected it to go so high as it's described as being from the 1968 rerelease. 

Okie

[guest4955]

This concept art failed to sell previously elsewhere:

[erik1925]

I dont believe that the BUTCH CASSIDY piece shown above is original concept artwork. It was created by someone copying the photograph that was used on the final poster and not the other way around.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Original-Butch-Cassidy-And-The-Sundance-Kid-Artwork-1969-/372444233257?hash=item56b767fe29%3Ag%3AVX4AAOSw01JbgGrr&nma=true&si=vaCX2z%252BDHoCuxGPr%252F8Wd6O2n99A%253D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

The seller was careful in his/her wording about what it is too (and this is the ONLY descriptive given for the piece, in the auction): "Original sketch of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid artwork. Great condition. 1969." NO where on the auction page does it say this was original concept art used in the creation of the movie poster.

Yes, it is an original sketch drawn by someone, so that description is accurate. But nothing more. If you look carefully at the drawing and the final poster photo, even the smallest of details such as the spread of Newman's right hand fingers, holding his hat, match identically to the photo. Or the wood detail of the arms of the chair he's sitting in, or the positioning of Redford's hands.

Had this been an actual "concept drawing" done months before the photo was taken, it would have bore differences like the design of chair, or maybe small differences in positioning, small variations in costume details, etc, which wouldnt have been finalized yet.

And had this been the original concept art, it likely would have sold for Much more, would have received more bids and not sold by someone with zero feedback.

I think someone got snookered for $200 smackers, thinking this was something it's not. 

[Harry Caul]

Is there any proof this is original concept art?  Who is Lanse?  And OMG the Sundance Kid looks ridiculous! 



EDIT: Jeff beat me to it while I was busy looking up a pic of Kermit in a cowboy hat 

[Neo]

Upon first glance, there were a few red flags with that being a "concept art" piece. 

Well said there, Jefe, and good eye, HC.  "The eyes realize real lies."